5 Minutes Too Late
by Madame Kiksters
Summary: Just Angst January Day 3: Prompt-5 Minutes too late If only she'd gotten there sooner.


**5 Minutes Too Late**

 **Summary:**

 **If only she'd gotten there sooner.**

 **Notes:**

 **This is for "Just Angst January". So...it is gonna be angsty. I hope you enjoy it though. Get ready for the feels.**

* * *

Angela started her morning off all wrong. She woke up a half hour late because she pressed the dismiss button instead of the snooze. It wasn't until Fareeha had rubbed her shoulder and asked if she had to go in for work today that she sat up in bed and checked the time.

"Shit!" the blonde threw off the covers and hurriedly grabbed some clothes to take a rushed shower. She got soap in her eye and slammed her elbow into the wall in her haste causing a shooting pain to go all the way through her body every time she moved her arm.

"Just great." She mumbled to herself as she rinsed off, she ended up getting soap in her mouth for her trouble.

She hoped the day would get better soon or else today was going to be entirely too long.

She threw on her clothes while her body was still damp and, while she was uncomfortable, she had shaved off a few minutes to her routine and was only a minute behind schedule.

She made that up by brushing her teeth as she pulled on her shoes. Not the most sanitary, but it was just for today.

A knock on the doorframe pulled her attention to her wife.

"You still want breakfast today or should I pack it up for you to eat at work?"

Bless Fareeha for being the angel she was. "Yea pweash." She answered around her toothbrush.

The taller woman smiled warmly as she left to go pack away her breakfast. Angela skimped on her two minutes of brushing and then she was finally done getting ready.

She hurried into the kitchen and pulled Fareeha in for a quick kiss. The other woman smiled into the gesture and wrapped her arms around Angela's waist tightly. When they pulled away from each other Fareeha stared sadly into Angela's blue eyes.

"I wish you didn't have to go in today." She complained as she reached a hand up and held Angela's face gently, a thumb slowly caressed the blonde's cheek.

The doctor sighed and leaned into the touch for a moment. She let herself relax and enjoy it for a time before she looked up at the taller woman. She wondered how she ever got along in this world without her. She felt a surge of warmth and affection as her eyes watered from the intensity.

"I love you."

Fareeha laughed softly. "I love you too, angel-face. Now get out there and go save some lives."

Angela smiled brightly and pecked her wife on the lips one last time and grabbed her packed breakfast and headed out the door.

Traffic was a nightmare. It took Angela longer than she should have to realize the reason was because the winter holidays had ended, and people were still returning home by the hoards. Hundreds of confused tourists and travelers flooded the roads as they tried to find alternate routes back home that weren't so congested.

She tapped the steering wheel impatiently as she watched the clock on her dash indicate it was getting later and later. She gave it a betrayed glare before traffic finally started moving again. Sighing with relief she pressed the gas pedal but had to brake a few moments later and wait another minute before she was able to move on.

She groaned and resigned herself to being late. She caught a whiff of her breakfast and decided since she wasn't going to make any significant progress any time soon, she might as well eat. She opened the bag and pulled out the container inside. Fareeha must have woken up extra early to prepare today's specialty.

Her heart melted at the sight of her favorite meal, it was one Fareeha didn't prepare too often because of how unhealthy it was. She breathed in the delightful aroma. The eggs and swiss cheese were excellent additions to the fried potatoes, turkey bacon, tomato, and spinach. Swiss Rösti was really supposed to be a side dish, but with the proportions inside, it would probably last her the entire day.

She used the fork her thoughtful wife had stuck inside of the bag and scarfed down her breakfast as she released and pressed the brake pedal at the appropriate times. When she finished, a miracle occurred and traffic finally cleared up.

She breathed a sigh of relief and thanked whatever higher powers had afforded her such mercy.

She pulled into the parking lot and grabbed her stethoscope, she made sure her badge was attached to her front pocket on her lab coat, and hurried inside. It wasn't long before she was in the building and being pulled all over the hospital to check on her patients for the day.

She was just sitting down for lunch when her phone vibrated inside of her lab pocket. She checked the notifications and found a message from Fareeha.

'Could you pick up some groceries on the way back 3'

Angela laughed at the ridiculous kiss emoji and sent a response back. 'ok'

She looked at the time on her phone and winced, knowing she still had several more patients to see before the day was out. She sent another message after. 'I might be a bit late tho'

It was a few minutes before she received a reply from Fareeha. 'Don't worry about it then angelface'

Before she could reply, another message popped up. 'love you 3'

Angela blushed as she smiled warmly and replied with a giggle. 'I love you too 3o'

That was one less thing she had to worry about. Maybe Fareeha was going to make an even more extravagant meal for dinner? Angela suddenly couldn't wait to get home.

Angela drove back home under agonizingly slow traffic. It was even worse than it had been that morning! It wasn't even rush hour and traffic was this congested.

She thought about abandoning her car and walking back to her house, but thought better of it. It had started snowing earlier and the streets were probably slippery. No point in taking a risk.

When she finally got home, she tossed her keys into the bowl with a sigh of relief. "Finally." She muttered to herself before she raised her voice to reach Fareeha inside. "'Reeha, I'm home!"

She ventured further into the house as she continued speaking. "Thanks for the breakfast this morning. It was just what I needed to make my day better."

She waited a moment before she checked around the house for her wife. No sign of her. Angela shrugged and figured she was still at the store, but something dark settled into her stomach and festered. She sent Fareeha a quick text. 'Hey! Just checking to make sure you're alright.'

She waited an entire minute before she called her. It went straight to voicemail. Her stomach started twisting painfully as she left a message.

"Hey, it's me, Angela. Oh...you probably knew that. Um. I'm starting to get worried so. Please call me."

She waited another minute before calling again. Voicemail. "Hey, 'Reeha. Still wondering if you're okay. Please call me."

She waited an agonizing five minutes as she paced around. She snatched up the phone and decided to call one last time before she left again. The increasingly frustrating sound of the voicemail indicator played, and Angela left another message.

"Fareeha Amari! If you forgot to charge your phone and it died and that's why I am having to go through this I am going to be very upset." She threatened before she snapped the phone shut and grabbed a warmer coat. She decided to go down to the store and see if she was still there.

She grabbed her keys and went for her phone, but it rang before she reached it. She hurriedly answered it. "Fareeha?"

"Is this Dr. Angela Amari?"

It was one of her nurses from the hospital. "Yes, this is she. I'm a little busy right now if you could call me back?"

"Dr. Amari…Your wife's here."

Angela breathed a sigh of relief at her words. "Oh thank goodness. I was so worried."

"Angela…she's not in good shape."

Angela felt her heart stop. The words nonsensical. "What?" her voice sounded far away to her own ears.

"She's been in a traffic collision. Her blood pressure is dropping and she's going into shock. We're doing all we can, but…you know how tricky these things can be…doctor?"

Angela dropped the phone and grabbed her keys. She got into her car and buckled her seatbelt as an afterthought. She exceeded the speed limit until she was caught in traffic. She didn't hesitate to exit her car and rush to the street before she hurried to the hospital. When she cleared the traffic, she flagged down a taxi and rode it the rest of the way to the hospital. There were only a few miles left so it was a five-minute drive before she got to the emergency department entrance. She threw all of her money at the cab driver and ran inside.

The doors opened expectantly, and Angela knew by the amount of staff standing outside of one of the rooms that it was Fareeha's. She walked to the room feeling numb until she saw her. Her bedding was covered with blood and Fareeha's body was a mangled mess. Her arms were twisted oddly, and her face was swollen and covered with blood.

"'Reeha. No." She stepped further into the room and noticed that everyone was slowly dispersing, nothing to do for a dead body. "No. No. No. Please no."

She grabbed Fareeha's still warm hand, expecting it to wrap around hers comfortingly like it normally did, but there was nothing. She was gone. She'd been too late.

She wailed one last time before her tears spilled over her cheeks. She clutched Fareeha's lifeless hand to her face, so different from how it had been just this morning.

Outside she heard the murmurs of the staff present.

"This is fucking awful."

"I know, but…there's nothing we can do."

"It's so shitty that she died like…five minutes before she got here."

There was a moment of silence before they returned to their duties. Leaving the doctor to grieve for her wife.

It was all too soon, and the charge nurse approached her.

"Doctor…are you ready for us to clean her up?"

Angela didn't respond at first before she nodded. "Let me do it?"

The charge nurse looked at her with uncertainty before she gave a hesitant nod. "Just know we'll be out here if you need us. You know where the call light is."

The blonde nodded, and she was left alone with her wife's body. The nurse returned with a stack of washcloths and a basin with some soap along with a hospital gown. Fareeh'a shirt had been cut off of her to determine the extent of the damage.

Angela made some warm soapy water, knowing in the back of her mind that Fareeha wouldn't care either way anymore.

She delicately began to clean up her wife. She kept expecting her to open her eyes and look at her lovingly, like she had such a short time ago. She heard gurgling coming from Fareeha's throat and for a moment, she forgot all of her medical training and hoped Fareeha was about to start breathing. Her heart broke all over again when she realized Fareeha's body was simply regurgitating its stomach contents from all of the jostling. The smell was awful, and Angela found her heart breaking all over again.

She sobbed loudly, and a nurse quietly approached her. She placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and Angela sobbed again. "Let us take care of this, Dr. Amari." Angela wept as she nodded and stood. She didn't look at Fareeha's body. She couldn't or else she would be shoving the nurse away from her claiming that her wife could still come back, even though she knew better.

She sat in one of the chairs at the nearby nurse's station and tried to compose herself. It was too soon when they were wheeling Fareeha out into the hall transporting her to the morgue.

Angela sniffled as she stood and followed them. Everyone gave her sorrowful stares, but no one said anything. Knowing that there was nothing to say and trying to find something would just make her feel worse at this point.

She followed them along the route and into the dingy hallway that led to the morgue. It was purposefully unwelcoming to prevent visitors from venturing down here and into the morgue. While she could appreciate that fact once, now she wished that it was something better. She felt guilty about having Fareeha left here for any length of time. She deserved so much more. She deserved the world. She didn't deserve to die. Not like this.

Never like this.

Angela watched them wheel the bed inside. They advised her to stay out of the morgue itself. No need to upset herself anymore. She listened with a heavy heart and stood to the side. It was a short eternity before they wheeled the empty bed out. One of them stayed behind and asked if Angela wanted her to stay and keep her company. Angela waved her off.

No need to ruin someone else's day anymore.

When Angela finally returned home, the house was empty, but her and Fareeha's love still warmed the rooms. They hadn't yet turned cold and lifeless like Angela felt. She was angry. How could this happen? There was no way this could be real. With a newfound determination, Angela pulled off her shoes and her coat and laid down in the bed. This was a dream. It had to be. When she woke up, Fareeha would be with her, and everything would be okay.

The next morning, Angela woke up to a world without Fareeha, like she would for the rest of her days.


End file.
